Right to work compliance expands beyond employees: what businesses need to do before 1 October 2026

At a glance

• Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 will come into force on 1 October 2026. This will extend the UK illegal working regime beyond traditional employment relationships and bring a wider range of working arrangements within scope.
• Businesses using agency workers, individual subcontractors, casual or temporary workers, zero-hours workers, gig economy workers and platform-based labour should review their right to work processes now.
• The changes are relevant to all businesses that engage labour in the UK, not only licensed sponsors.
• Updated Home Office guidance and statutory codes will be central to how the regime operates in practice, including in relation to contractual chains, supplier arrangements and digital checks.

 

Background

Earlier this year, we published a series of articles on the proposed expansion of the UK illegal working regime to cover modern labour models, including gig economy and non-standard working arrangements.

On 24 June 2026, the government published the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2026. Those Regulations confirm that section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 will come into force on 1 October 2026. Section 48 amends the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, extending the application of the illegal working provisions in sections 15 to 24 of the 2006 Act to arrangements beyond typical contracts of employment.

 

What is changing?

• Once in force, section 48 will represent one of the most significant developments in UK immigration compliance in recent years. The policy objective is to close gaps in the existing right to work framework by extending the regime beyond employees working under traditional contracts of employment. The categories potentially brought within scope include:
• Non-employees engaged under a ‘worker’s contract’;
• Individual contractors;
• Agency workers and other labour supplied through contractual chains;
• Gig economy workers and platform-based service providers; and casual, temporary and zero-hours workers. 

The change does not mean that these individuals become employees for employment law purposes. Rather, the effect is that businesses engaging them may become subject to right to work obligations and civil penalty exposure under the illegal working regime.

The Home Office impact assessment explains that the existing Right to Work Scheme has applied only to individuals classified as employees, meaning that employers using workers or self-employed individuals have not had a legal responsibility under that scheme to check whether those individuals are entitled to work in the UK. The government has identified this as a gap in the framework, particularly in light of agency work, casual arrangements and gig economy models.

 

Who will be responsible for the checks?

A key practical question for clients will be how responsibility is allocated where labour is supplied through an agency, subcontractor, platform or other intermediary. The government materials refer to the extension applying to companies who contract workers or individual subcontractors to provide services under their company name, including agency workers and gig economy workers. This suggests that end users may need to consider right to work compliance where they contract for labour or services, even where another party in the chain is the direct employer or contracting party. 

However, businesses should avoid assuming that every arrangement will be treated in the same way. The practical operation of the expanded regime will depend on the final Home Office guidance and statutory codes, the contractual structure, who engages the individual, who controls the work, and whether the individual is personally providing services.

 

Why does this matter?

The practical impact is that businesses can no longer assume that immigration compliance responsibility sits only with the direct employer or supplier. Organisations using labour outside standard employment contracts will need to understand where workers sit in the labour supply chain, how right to work checks are conducted, who retains evidence, and what contractual protections are in place. 

This is likely to be particularly relevant in sectors and functions with high levels of flexible or subcontracted labour, including logistics, delivery, warehousing, hospitality, construction, cleaning, security, facilities management, production and platform-based work.

 

Digital verification and statutory codes

The government has also indicated that the reforms sit alongside changes to digital identity verification. The ministerial statement published on 30 June 2026 states that updated requirements will apply where digital verification is used for right to work or right to rent checks, including the use of government-registered providers. This means businesses should review not only who they check, but how checks are carried out and whether any digital verification provider is appropriately registered for right to work purposes.

 

Looking Ahead

The impact of these changes should not be underestimated. The expanded scope is likely to increase materially the number of working arrangements that businesses need to assess from a right to work perspective. For many organisations this will be a cross-functional compliance issue, requiring input from HR, procurement, legal, compliance and operational teams. Businesses engaging workers caught within the expanded scope may face civil penalty exposure and, in deliberate breach cases, potential criminal liability. The Home Office consultation response also highlights the current enforcement environment, including significant civil penalty activity and a continued focus on high-risk sectors such as hospitality, construction, logistics and the gig economy.

The expansion of the regime will affect all businesses engaging labour in the UK, not just licensed sponsors. Businesses should use the period before 1 October 2026 to prepare, rather than waiting for enforcement to begin.

 

What should businesses do now?

• Map all non-employee labour arrangements, including agency workers, individual subcontractors, casual workers, zero-hours workers, gig / platform workers and outsourced labour.
• Identify which functions engage labour outside standard employment contracts, including procurement, operations, facilities, logistics, hospitality, construction, cleaning, security and delivery functions.
• Review agency, subcontractor and platform agreements to ensure they contain clear right to work compliance obligations, audit rights, evidence-sharing obligations, notification duties and suitable indemnities.
• Decide whether checks will be carried out centrally, by the supplier, or through a hybrid model, and document that approach.
• Update onboarding processes, procurement policies and supplier management procedures so that non-standard workers are not missed.
• Train HR, procurement, site managers and contract managers on the expanded regime.
• Review any digital right to work checking arrangements and confirm whether providers are government-registered for the relevant right to work service. 

 

Comment

The commencement date gives businesses a clear implementation window. The key challenge will be operational rather than purely legal: identifying who is in scope, allocating responsibility across contractual chains, and ensuring there is an auditable process for checks and evidence retention. Clients should treat this as a supply chain and workforce compliance issue, not simply an HR onboarding issue.